No manager had greater motivation on Saturday than Nigel Adkins but that all-consuming desire was not shared by his team, who were beaten by his old charges even more convincingly than the scoreline would suggest.

Reading, bereft of confidence and relegation-bound, set an unwanted club record with their eighth defeat in succession and remain rooted to the bottom of the Premier League. Southampton, in contrast, are going from strength to strength under Mauricio Pochettino, unbeaten in their past six and sitting comfortable in mid-table.

Adkins, so unlucky to be sacked by the Saints when they were undefeated in five league matches, spoke on Friday about the unpalatable trend that is seeing managers "poach" jobs from their peers, but he had no complaints and shook hands with his successor, as well as wishing his old club well. Afterwards there were no hard feelings. "You have to look forward and be positive," he said. "I'm the Reading manager now so I shook his [Pochettino's] hand and invited him for a drink in my office."

Accepting the invitation, the Argentinian wished "Nigel and Reading all the luck in the world". He opted not to add the obvious rider that they need it but, in less amicable mode, he spoke of Reading "always kicking the ball in the air".

Adkins proved at Southampton that he knows how to get teams promoted back to the Premier League, and that knowledge seems certain to be valuable next season. He was not about to talk in those terms, of course – managers never do until survival becomes arithmetically impossible. All he would say was: "We are at the wrong end of the table and face a big challenge. I've been out of work for two months so I'm looking forward to that challenge. Maybe the best thing for us to do is not to look at the table."

After a dodgy start, during which they were second best, Saints's superior passing established them as much the better team, with Jay Rodriguez, signed by Adkins from Burnley for £7m last June, a penetrative and inventive man of the match. Adkins changed half his team after his first game in charge resulted in a 4-1 drubbing at Arsenal last week, but this was no better and increasingly Reading have the appearance of a Championship outfit playing above their station. One of the changes saw Adam Federici replace Stuart Taylor in goal, but the returning keeper was at fault for the first goal and will be lucky to retain his place.

All that said, Reading were the better side for half an hour and might have had the lead after four minutes, when Sean Morrison, eight yards out, headed over from Danny Guthrie's free-kick. They had an even better chance after 20 minutes when Adam Le Fondre, left with only Artur Boruc to beat after some pinball wizardry in the penalty area, fired wastefully over from eight yards. On one of only two occasions when Boruc was called into action he plunged low to his right, to keep out Adrian Mariappa's downward header from Guthrie's cross

Strangely, in view of what was to follow, it was against the run of play that Southampton took the lead in the 35th minute when Rickie Lambert's ball over the top saw Rodriguez contest possession with Federici, who erred on the side of self-protection, allowing Rodriguez to prod the ball past him and into the net.

Reading claimed in vain for a penalty midway through the first half when a tussle between Hal Robson-Kanu and Jos Hooiveld left the attacker on the floor. The referee's decision, that Hooiveld had played the ball and that any contact with the man was inconsequential, was the right one.

Before half time Southampton ought to have scored again when Mariappa was caught in possession by Rodriguez, whose shot was saved but not held by Federici. Following up, Gastón Ramírez blazed horribly wide with the goal at his mercy. Saints had no trouble keeping the initiative and Steven Davis might have doubled their advantage before the substitute Adam Lallana did so, in the 72nd minute, from a Rodriguez pass.

Reading thought they had pulled one back three minutes later, but the officials ruled that Boruc had not carried Le Fondre's header over his own line (Adkins claimed it was "99.9% over"). The last chance, however, was Southampton's, the substitute Guly Do Prado shooting over from Nathaniel Clyne's cutback. Talking of last chances, Reading's probably comes at home to Liverpool next Saturday.